Jealous
by QueenofQuill
Summary: James and Sirius are best friends. That was something no one could touch but they both thought the world of Remus. That was something Peter was jealous of.
1. Chapter 1

Peter Pettirgrew was not a smart boy but he wasn't a complete fool either. He worshipped his friends James and Sirius, especially James and wanted so much to gain their approval. That is not to say that he didn't like Remus; quite the opposite in fact. Remus was kind and patient and always had a smile for him when others made fun of him. Remus was the one who took time to help him with his homework and he was happy to just sit and talk and keep Peter Company while James and Sirius were busy with their latest plot. Peter had often thought that his gentle friend would make a good teacher. Yes; Remus was a good friend but Peter couldn't help but feel rather jealous of him at times. It was obvious that people liked Remus more than him. This shouldn't have been surprising seeing as the whole of Gryffindor liked Remus. James was often annoyed that every time Lily Evans walked past their little foursome and he would say, "Morning Evans."  
>She would always reply, "Good Morning Remus."<p>

James wasn't annoyed with Remus so much as he was annoyed with himself. Why couldn't he get this girl to like him? All the other girls did. Peter didn't think Lily had a crush on Remus; she was just quite fond of him. He was rather endearing with his light brown hair, his docile look and his shy smile not to mention his incredible gold eyes. Many of the girls in their year found Remus cute. That was another reason he was jealous of his friend but not the main one.

The main reason was; James and Sirius liked Remus better than him. This made itself apparent in many ways. They all met on the Hogwarts express. He, James and Sirius had found the only compartment that could fit the three of them and it was already occupied by another first year. He was sleeping against the window with his robes over his shoulder and a book in his hand. Sirius; without much regard for privacy took the book from the sleeping boy and looked at the cover. 'Defence Against the Dark Arts: Third year'.

"Bloody hell," exclaimed Sirius. The boy should have woken up at that volume but he didn't even stir. "What is he doing with this? He doesn't have a badge on his robes so he must be a first year like us. How did he get his hands on this book?"

Eventually the sleeping figure stirred and the first thing he was greeted with was Sirius' loud voice, "Hey mate, what are you doing with a book like that?"

James smiled apologetically at the obviously exhausted boy. His face was so gaunt you would think he had just woken up from the grave. "Sorry about him. I'm James Potter by the way. The loud mouth here is Sirius Black and this is Peter Pettigrew."

The boy gave a small smile and sat up, "Pleased to meet you. Remus Lupin."

He was a boy of few words and obviously shy but Sirius and James were determined to make him talk. They asked him all sorts of questions like which house did he want to be in and was his family pureblood? They also talked a lot about themselves. They had not been so enthusiastic when they were introducing themselves to Peter nor had that ask him so many questions. Peter found out more about them listening to them talk to Remus than he had meeting them himself. They also found out how Remus came to be in possession of such an advanced book. He said that it was his dad's when he was on third year and even though he had read every defence book he could get his hands on he wasn't that advanced because he hadn't had a chance to practice yet. The pale boy looked slightly shocked at this obvious attempt at friendship but pleased none the less.

The train was only the first example. The next came soon after James and Sirius had become the master pranksters of the school. They pranked anyone they saw. They pranked Peter quite a few times. He had begged them to stop but that just made them laugh harder.

It wasn't long before they decided to prank Remus. It was a simple spell that made Remus' limbs act like they were connected to strings and James and Sirius were the puppet masters. Everyone in the corridor was laughing so hard that they barely noticed Remus' distress. He didn't like not being in control of his body. It was terrifying for him. After a while the boy just hung limply and closed his eyes pretending he was somewhere else. When they saw that their victim wasn't doing anything James and Sirius looked at him properly. They saw an enormous amount of strain on his face and suddenly this spell seemed to burn them. They dropped their wands down to their sides and Remus fell to the ground. He hit his head on the stone floor and no-one was laughing anymore. The pale boy didn't make a sound when his head connected. He picked himself up off the ground with an impressive amount of dignity and held his bleeding head. The two pranksters looked like they were going to say something but Remus then turned and made his way towards the medical room.

Sirius and James spent the rest of the day looking ashamed. Peter was rather angry at that. Why didn't they feel ashamed when they made a fool of him and they didn't stop even when he pleaded with them to? Plus when Remus came back to their room that night the two boys apologised profusely. They were the kind of people who didn't care what anyone thought about them but the notion of Remus having such a low opinion of them seemed to sting. The boy just smiled and pulled out one of his father's old books and said, "No harm done."

The two other boys knew that was a lie but decided to leave it at that.

Another instance that told Peter that his two popular friends liked Remus more than him was shortly into their second year. With his rather pacifist attitude Remus was almost as much of a target for bullies as Peter was however when someone said something to Remus he gave no indication that it bothered him. He just smiled like he always did and it wasn't long before bullies lost interest in him as there was no fun in picking on someone who wasn't bothered by you.

However Lucius Malfoy did not have as short an attention span. He was a couple of years ahead of them in Hogwarts and he frightened Peter to death. Still as always Remus ignored his comments and continued to act in a very passive aggressive manner. However it wasn't long before Malfoy's temper got the better of him and he followed the foursome after class was over. Peter hid behind James as soon as he saw the imposing white haired boy, Sirius and James scowled at him and Remus just said, "Afternoon Lucius. Can we help you with anything?"

"Yes Lupin you can. I am sick and tired of a little teacher's pet like you hogging these corridors."

"There is plenty of room to get by if you need to be somewhere," said Lupin fearlessly.

Malfoy's patience was now gone and he grabbed the front of Lupin's robes pulling him closer. "Very funny you worthless half blood."

"Hey," Sirius and James declared at the same time. Malfoy let go of Remus' robes to focus his attention on the other two who had spoken out against him.

James grabbed the back of Remus' robes and pulled him behind himself and Sirius. It wasn't as though Remus couldn't defend himself he would just not do it unless it was a last resort. He would not draw his wand unless someone else drew theirs on him first. Sirius and James were the best at everything. They were top students without even trying. Remus' marks were just as good as theirs but he had to study as hard as he could to get those marks. He spent a fair amount of his free time buried in some book or other. Remus was a quick learner and a committed student but he didn't have the raw talent that his friends possessed. However there was one thing in which Remus overtook even them. It was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Pendragon adored him and even offered to move him up a level but he said he would rather stay with his friends. When she was asking what he liked about the class he replied, "Because if you know how to defend yourself others won't get hurt doing it for you."

That was enough for her to fall a little bit in love with the fair haired boy. The professor was a very small woman, barely taller than a first year but apparently she was one of the celebrated female Aurors of her generation. She wasn't old yet but she was tired of fighting. She had an unmistakable soft spot of Remus and his two friends always teased him gently about that but just he smiled and considered it an honour to be liked by such an influential woman.

All this proved that Remus could handle himself if he needed to but James and Sirius weren't satisfied unless there was retribution. While the two black haired boys were best friends and nothing could penetrate that, they both thought a lot of Remus and wouldn't hear a thing said against him so James placed himself in front of the boy and Sirius followed suit. Remus sighed but didn't fight their actions; he was use to James and Sirius' over protectiveness. He put his hands on his friends' shoulders and said, "Let's just go."

But the two boys were passed ignoring it as Malfoy was now smirking at them arrogantly. There was a fight.

Peter wished a fight would break out over him and couldn't understand why Remus reprimanded James and Sirius when they got back to their room. This time though the two boys didn't look ashamed.

"He got what he deserved," mumbled Sirius.

"And so did you; two weeks of detention."

"Still worth it," said James and Remus couldn't stop the small, grateful smile that made its way across his countenance.

Yes; it really annoyed Peter that the two people whom he worshipped liked Remus better than him and what made it worse was that it was hard to hate Remus for it.


	2. Anouncement

Hey there everyone. Thank-you for your lovely comments on this story.

I decided to write a story that has been in my hed for a while. Harry decides to visit Grimmuald Place now that he is at a good point in his life. He sees how the Marauders met, he sees snippets of their hogwarts year that Sirius thought were worth remembering. Plus for all Remus fans, the very over done idea of how the Marauder's found out Remus was a werewolf.

It is called 'The Way They Were'.

P.S. this is connected to Jelaous so the way the Marauders met will be the same and I will put in the prank Sirius and James played on Remus. I haven't decided whether or not I want to add the section where Lucius squares up to Remus. Tell me what you want, I'll welcome any suggestions.


End file.
